Bandsaw Drift

[Paul Kane]

I have just got a Bandsaw,but anytime I change the blade,I am having a lot of Drift, I am a novice as such with a Bandsaw,I know I can make my own Fence ,that will redress the problem of Drift,but ,what I would like too know is that if I use my homemade fence,will I still be able to cut thin Veneers,which is what I need.

Paul

[Sam Stephens]

A bandsaw should have zero drift. It's all in the setup, which does have to be altered for different sized blades. google/youtube Alex Snodgrass. He has a nice video on BS setup that you may find helpful.

[Mike Cutler]

Yes, you can cut thin veneer with a homemade fence. Designed properly it will be better than what you can buy.
Agree with Sam, that a bandsaw should have close to zero drift. Heat dissipation, blade quality, tooth configuration and blade sharpness are generally the variables that cause poor cutting performance once the initial setup has been done properly.

[Paul Kane]

Thanks for your replye , The point that is confusing me with the homemade fence is if there is drift ,and you rectify it with setting your fence at a angle, are you then restricted with the thickness that you can cut your veneers at? Because the front depth will either Thicker or Thiner than the back of the blade,so in a sense you are governed as to what thickness you can cut your veneers at?

[Ken Krawford]

Sam, thanks for the Alex Snodgrass reference. I really learned a lot from the video.

[Mark Engel]

Here is another thread that has a lot of information on bandsaw set up and blade drift.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?213784-Why-angle-fence-for-drift-rather-than-centering-bandsaw-blade

[glenn bradley]

You'll see from the link Mark provided that there are two camps on this (like there are two camps on wheel coplaner requirements); the align the saw camp (which is where I live) and the adjust for drift camp. Where things get blurry is when someone believes their saw is aligned when it has just been adjusted for a certain blade. The current saw and blade combination is fine but, as soon as you swap blades, its not. This is not an aligned saw, this is a matched set, so to speak :).

I am able to swap blades freely on several different saws and only need to adjust the guides for the blade width. As a qualifier I am only running blades from 3/16" to 3/4". I assume when you move to a wider range of blade widths during changes that things get a bit troublesome by many accounts here.

There are also saws that just won't be aligned due to one problem or another. I have 17" saws, 14" saws and 10" saws and swap blades freely on each of them (although not between them :p). The alignment can take a few minutes or a few hours depending on how versatile the machine is or what is actually out of whack. The same is true for many of the machines we use, no?